I'm in the process of planning a short bike tour. Something along the coast. 3-7 days. Maybe my bike, maybe a loaner; probably can't afford a touring bike. Camping and cooking myself food along the way. Anywho, I'm going over the details in my head, wondering if all the logistics are going to work themselves out, and I come accross this quote:
There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth -- not going all the way, and not starting. - Buddha ...
So I guess I'm just gonna haffa do it. Details be damned.
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4 comments:
Though I've been reading your blog for a while now, I must confess I don't know what your bike is. My commuter bike is also my tourer. It's just an old 10 speed lugged steel frame road bike I used to ride as a kid. I put an extra bottle cage, rack and panniers on it and viola - tourer :-)
Just do it, it's a blast. I went on a two day tour through some insanely hilly country late last year and even though it wrecked my knees it was absolutely worth it! Take some friends to share the experience (and there's some safety in numbers ;-))
Thanks for the encouragement. My daily ride is a Giant OCR road bike. I bought it before I knew much about bikes, and while I don't particularly like it, it's taken me many miles with few problems. The thing is, I don't know how well it will hold up carrying me AND 3 days worth of stuff. The most I've ever carried is work stuff and 10 pounds +/- of groceries. I'm pretty into the idea of buying a Novara Randonee (I can get a really good deal), but I don't have the money yet...
No worries, I'm sure you'll have an absolute blast! Try and go somewhere where the traffic isn't too bad, stick to backroads and such.
One of the guys that went on our mini-tour was riding a Giant CRX-4 (or it might have been a 3, one of those aluminum flat bar roadies anyway) and once he put a rack on it it carried all his gear no problems. He was pretty worried that it would break in some way, but apart from a flat tyre it performed flawlessly and we rode over some rough dirt roads! The only comment I would make is that the small rear cluster had to make it hard for him because there were so many long steep climbs. I wouldn't have been able to push that gearing loaded up with camping gear and food, but he's young and strong. Maybe you could just buy a different wheel with bigger sprockets on the cluster.
I actually fitted a MTB triple to my bike coupled with an old 6 speed steel rear wheel I had spare. The bike was supposed to be fitted out with a Nexus 8 red band hub but the new wheel wasn't built up in time.
You can check out a brief rundown and some photos here it's not my site or photos. I've since ditched the riser bars (flat bars now), suspension fork and mudguards. It's so sexy with it's Nexus 8 :-)
Here's the google maps of our ride, check out the elevation especially on day two! That's what finished off my knees.
Day 1
Day 2
Good deal. People have to go on around for the sake of their interests & passions. These bicycle tour rides are no doubt aimed at an active body and mind but even if you are starting out you can still give them a try as you will be introduced to a great way of staying healthy and seeing the great outdoors.
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